Disclaimer: I am very sorry for taking so long to update. I had technical difficulties with the laptop…and I had a lot of college stuff going on…Here is the LAST CHAPTER! Enjoy! Thank you for keeping up!

Chapter 6: Falling Into Place

Leslie's POV:

I was sitting by his bedside; waiting for Jess to open his eyes again.

It's been three days...I thought to myself. If he stayed unconscious any longer, he might be taken off of life support. I couldn't even fathom that thought.

"Jess…it's me…Leslie…" I began. "I really hope you can hear me…but you've got to keep fighting. Please Jess, open your eyes…" Tears began to fill my eyes. "I can't live without you, Jess. I'm nothing without you…"

I stood over him and kissed his forehead while a couple of tears plopped onto his forehead. I held his hand and prayed again. This time, I prayed out loud.

"Dear God…I know I don't say much to you…but I need you now more than ever. Please…with all of your power…give Jess the strength to come back to us. His family loves him and needs him more than anything. Please God; don't take him away from us."

As I closed my eyes and took deep breaths, Jess's heart monitor began to accelerate.

My heart dropped. Oh no...Dear God this isn't the sign I wanted from you! What is going on with his heart?

Jess's eyes began to quiver and he moved his right wrist. His eyes opened.

"Jess…?" I calmly breathed. "Do you know who I am…?"

Jess took in a deep breath and slowly blinked. "Don't be silly, Leslie…" He smiled and quietly chuckled a little bit.

"I'm gonna go get a doctor to let him know that you're awake!" My God, my prayers were answered!

"But…what happened? Why am I here?" Jess nervously asked.

"I'll tell you everything after I tell someone that you're awake."

I rushed to the main desk on the fifth floor. "Hi, the patient in room 518 is awake."

The receptionist smiled. "I'll page his doctor right away."

I came back to Jess's bed side. "How long have I been here for?" Jess asked.

"It's been about three days now. Do you remember anything?"

Jess hesitated and took a breath in. "I remember walking towards the creek…but after that, everything went blank."

"I really hope you won't be furious with me…but we were going to swing over the creek…I was going to swing over first, but you insisted that you would swing over first. The rope snapped and you hit your head on the jagged rocks."

"I had a feeling that rope was going to rip at some point…but…how did I end up here?"

"I dove after you…and when I got you out of the water…Bill came to our aid. We called the ambulance…and when they told us that you were in a coma…" I choked through the tears. My God, Jess, I was so scared!" I cried as I gave him a gentle hug. "I'm so sorry I put you in the hospital."

"Sorry…? Why would you be sorry?" Jess asked.

Oh no... Tell me this won't be like my dream. "You didn't want to swing across the creek because the water was too high."

"No, Leslie. I'm not blaming you for this. If it weren't for you, I'd be dead right now. You saved my life."

It was heartwarming knowing that Jess still cared about me. "I don't know if you heard me or not…but when you were unconscious, I told you that I couldn't live without you…and you were everything to me."

Jess smiled as he held my hand. "It was faint…but I did. Honestly, I couldn't live without you either."

I drew my head closer to Jess as he slowly moved towards me. I was on the verge of wrapping my arms around his neck to kiss him, but we were interrupted.

"Hello, Jesse!" The doctor exclaimed as he walked into the room. "We have notified your family. Now, we will run some tests to make sure everything is okay."

"I'll be back in a little while, Jess." I smiled as I left the room.

I sat in the waiting room anxiously waiting for Jess's test results. As I was reading one of the magazines on the shelf, Jess's family arrived.

I wasn't sure how to react at first. A part of me was convinced that they were still blaming me for causing Jess's accident. But at the same time, I was hoping that they would see that I saved Jess's life.

A half an hour later, one of the nurses called us into Jess's room. We were told that the results have arrived. Before I was able to go to the elevator, Mrs. Aarons stopped me.

"Leslie, I'd like to speak with you."

If she starts blaming me for causing Jess's accident, I'm leaving. "Um…yes, Mrs. Aarons?"

"I would like to apologize for saying those hurtful things to you. Now that I see that Jess is awake and is able to speak…he wouldn't have been able to do any of those things if you weren't there when the accident happened. I hope you can forgive me."

I can't believe she actually apologized to me. I thought she was going to yell at me again. "It is understandable, Mrs. Aarons. Any mother would react that way if she was told that her son may never wake up again."

"I should not have blamed the accident on you, Leslie. It was unforgivable. Jess would never forgive me if he heard me say those hurtful things to you."

If he was able to hear me, he definitely heard you. "I'm just happy that Jess is okay. Let's go see what the results say."

The elevator ride was quiet and awkward. I didn't know what else to say to Mrs. Aarons and I didn't want to look at her because it was rude to stare. We walked down the hall to room 518, and the doctor was already there.

"According to the MRI…it seems that Jess will be able to return to normal health. However, we have to keep him here for a couple of more days to make sure that he doesn't fall into another coma. As for his physical health, he should make a full recovery in a couple of days."

I have never seen the Aarons family so happy before. The love they had for Jess was so strong that it nearly brought tears to my eyes. Even Brenda and Ellie were smiling.

"Hey guys…" Jess began. "Would you mind giving me and Leslie some privacy? I'd like to speak to her alone."

"Of course, Jess." Mr. Aarons replied. "Come on everyone; let's get something to eat downstairs."

The others followed suit. May Belle stopped and looked at me. She smiled and gave me a hug. "I'm sorry about what I said on the bus, Leslie. You're my hero now."

I gave May Belle a pat on the head. "Go with your parents, okay sweetie?"

After everyone left, I pulled up a chair next to Jess's bedside.

"What's going on, Jess?"

"Leslie, I was thinking about what you said before…You kept saying you were sorry. How come you keep blaming yourself for what happened?"

"I had this dream…where you woke up…and when I was so relieved that you were alright…you were so cold and bitter. You were paralyzed from the waist down…and you told me that I was reason why you were paralyzed. You blamed me and you told me you never wanted to see me again…"

Jess was stunned. "Leslie…I could never be angry with you. Even if I did end up being paralyzed from the waist down…you would always be my best friend. My friendship with you would have given me the power to live life."

I was speechless for a moment. "Do you…truly mean that, Jess?"

Jess smiled. "Leslie, my life was absolutely horrible before you moved here. I literally had NO FRIENDS. But then you walked right into my life. Your presence was like light shining down on my midnight dark depression. I don't think I would have been able to live if you never came into my life. Heck…if you ended up hitting your head on the jagged rocks…my God I don't know how I would live my life without you."

Tears of joy began to fill my eyes. "I love you, Jess. I don't really know what love is…but my chest is feeling really warm…and I think that means something."

"I love you too, Leslie. I think the warm feeling in my chest means something too." Jess replied as his heart monitor began to increase.

My friendship with Jess made my life complete and from that moment on, I didn't think of that nightmare ever again, and I began to have faith in God again. This life changing experience allowed me to become a born-again Christian.

About a week later, Jess was released from the hospital. Each day after school, I stayed with him and helped him catch up on all of the work Monster Mouth Meyers assigned us.

"So…is it really true that you punched Gary Fulcher in the face?" Jess laughed.

"You bet it is. I put him in his place, and now he won't mess with us again! Monster Mouth Meyers gave me detention, but it was so worth it. I punched him for the both of us!"

"That's why you're my best friend, Les."

"Hey Jess…I was just wondering...since the rope snapped…"

Jess read my mind and smiled. "I know exactly what you're thinking. I have an idea. Stay here. I got a plan."

Jess came back downstairs with his sketchbook. "Check this out…I was thinking about this while I was in the hospital. Why don't we build a bridge to Terabithia?"

The drawing of the bridge was outstanding. The detailed sketch left me in awe.

"I would absolutely love that! That way no one would ever get hurt again."

Every day after school, we took the lumber from my backyard and slowly but surely build the bridge little by little. We measured the width of the creek and sanded down the wood so we wouldn't get splinters.

Within a week, the bridge was complete.

"I hope the Terabithians took care of themselves while we were gone." Jess said as we walked towards the newly built bridge.

"Actually, Jess…I think the accident gave the Terabithians the strength to defend and strengthen this beautiful land. They even did some work while we were gone. Take a look around. "

Just as I expected, the tree house we built months before transformed into a sturdy and durable stone castle with high robust walls with vines embellished all around it. Peace and harmony filled the air. As we walked across the bridge hand in hand, the Terabithians welcomed the return of their dearly beloved king.

Well guys, this story has finally come to an end. To those of you who kept up with this, THANK YOU SO MUCH for reading! If you enjoy my work, please subscribe to me. That way you can check out my future fan fictions! Once again, THANK YOU SO MUCH! Please read and review!